Fashion Fridays: Valentine’s Two Part Special, “He Said”

My best friend came up with this clever idea for Fashion Fridays: a “he said”/”she said” issue of what you and he wish the other would (or would not) wear. So I took a very formal poll, you know, Facebook/Twitter/interviewing friends, and asked what my men friends wished their wives/girlfriends would wear more often (barring lingerie, we all know they start there). Then I did the same thing in reverse and polled my girlfriends/social media about men’s fashion.

Today we tackle what outfits or items of clothing he loves or hates. Next week, we’ll tackle what you wish your man would (or wouldn’t) wear. I’m sure I will get some comment that this is sexist. But I believe that looking nice for your husband or wife is really important. Especially since men are so visual and what they see can affect your love life.

Let me start off by saying this is the hardest Fashion Friday post I’ve ever written. Mainly because no one is the same and you get answers all over the map. So I think the two primary themes are this:

1. Make an effort. I had several guys say “just look nice” or don’t look “dumpy.” Which translates into making an effort. Wearing clothes that fit – not too big or not too small. Showing you wanted to look nice for your night out or your Saturday of running errands in town.

2. Communicate. When some of my friends interviewed their husbands after being pressed, the answers of what he liked were as varied as the couples. To keep a little sizzle in your marriage, find out what your husband likes you to wear and make an effort to wear those things sometimes (especially on date nights!).

With that said, I had a few specific items of feedback for Don’t Wear This:

1. Sweats. This was my most frequent response. As my girlfriend said when we discussed this, you can wear cut yoga pants and a little tee and be just as comfy but look much better than you would in sweats. Kill the sweats in your wardrobe.

2. Ugly shoes. This comes in all forms. I heard “don’t wear Uggs,” and my hubby doesn’t like it when I wear flats that, in his opinion, look like houseshoes.

3. Clothes that don’t fit. These responses were from both ends of the spectrum. I heard comments about bad underwear lines or tops that don’t contain your body any more. But I also heard men that didn’t like oversized “tent” dresses.

I certainly had a few specific items of Do Wear This:

1. What I give you. Men really like it when you wear what they’ve purchased you for your birthday or Christmas. Maybe this is a dress or maybe it’s a necklace, but wear your presents, especially around your man.

2. High heels. Now while I heard from my male friends that they like their women in heels, I also had a few married friends close in height to one another that would prefer no heels. Nonetheless, heels won the day overall.

3. Dresses. Again, this wasn’t not universal, but I think this goes to the point of making an effort and looking feminine. This can be as simple as a little day dress for Sunday morning or a cocktail dress for an event. Especially if you are married to man who likes legs and you wear pants a lot, consider donning dresses for date night.

(Dresses courtesy of Nordstrom.)

4. A top that shows a “little.” This was not for everyday wear, but for date night men responded that they’d like to see a little cleavage (not surprisingly). There are tasteful ways to do this. See these two examples which, if worn with the right bra, could be classy but also a little sexy.

Reader Interactions

Comments

One thing I forgot to mention is that Rick hates me in any kind of capri-pant. He said it reminds him of his Mom when he was growing up and while he loves his mom, doesn’t want to think of her when he looks at me.

But to me, yoga pants are a little like leggings, you know “always tell the truth”. So what do those of us with big dimply legs do? I realize baggy sweats are pretty unattractive and possibly make me look even bigger, but I don’t think fitted pants are my solution for hanging-at-home/camping wear either????

What a great post. Thanks for taking time to poll on this topic. My husband loves it when I wear the things he buys for me. He purchases me nice looking sporty things from Athleta and loves to see me wear those items. I especially like the tip about dressing to look nice even for errands with our husband. While I don’t wear sweats ever, I do wear jeans, and I may try to dress that up a bit more. I am not really into showing cleavage at all unless I’m alone with my husband. It’s just a personal preference that it’s not needed to show part of the breasts to others- and to me, cleavage is a part of the breast.

So, on the tights or yoga pants, try the Athleta drifter tight. Pretty sure you will never want sweats again. Completely comfy, sexy, and you look a size smaller. My hubby actually makes a little ah, my favorite pants comment every time I wear them. We’ve been married 19.8 years. That’s a nice pair of yoga pants. Oh, and they actually work for workout too!
So my guy’s main comments was dresses good, and bare shoulders and or back on date night. Like racer back shirts or halter neck or etc. great post!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Come on in. I have a reservation just for you. I know life is busy. I would love for us to step out for a relaxing lunch but schedules don't always allow. So let's pop open that salad or sandwich sitting in front of our computers, and we'll have lunch right here. A few minutes is all we need to connect to community.